Italy's Pininfarina is the designer, and the Quattroporte supplies the underpinnings for the next-generation Maserati Coupe Cabrio, which replaces both the current Coupe and the Spyder, set to bow as a 2006 model. Its unveiling is scheduled for the September 2005 Frankfurt International Auto Show. With Pininfarina replacing ItalDesign, which penned the first car, the new Maser reportedly will sport longer, lower, and wider lines, with less girth in the middle of the body.
Today's car is on an exclusive platform, so switching to a modified Quattroporte will help amortize costs. The Coupe Cabrio will have a folding metal hardtop, like those of Mercedes-Benz's SL and SLK models.
The excellent 385-horsepower, 4.2-liter V-8 could get more bore or stroke (to 4.3 or 4.4 liters), which should be good for at least 400 horsepower, naturally aspirated. Supercharging and the quest for 500 ponies have been discussed, but another displacement increase--to 4.5 or perhaps 4.6 liters--is more likely for the GranSport version. All-wheel drive and a fully automatic transmission are hard to package in the Quattroporte, but Maserati is said to be counting on Audi's expertise to make all-wheel drive a viable option, rumored to be leading up to a bid by Volkswagen AG's Audi to buy Maserati from Fiat SpA.